In the course of Matt Damon’s four-decade-long career, there haven’t been that many roles that have forced him to drastically change his body. Two that come to mind are 1996’s Courage Under Fire, where he lost 40 pounds, and The Informant!, which saw him gain 30. And of course, the Jason Bourne franchise, which he referred to as “brutal,” when he discussed getting in shape for the fourth movie
“I was on a very strict diet and spent a lot of time in the gym just making myself miserable,” he told the BBC in 2016. So it’s unsurprising that a decade later, the 55-year-old is happy that he lost weight for The Odyssey in a healthier way
A Smarter Way to Slim Down
“You have to just be very, very intentional about everything you’re putting in your body,” he told PEOPLE, revealing that he gave up gluten. “It was more about just getting really, really physically fit, which just really involves changing your diet, just a whole lifestyle change,” he said
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“I didn’t change it in an unhealthy way,” Damon said. “I think if I had done the opposite and put weight on, that would have been dangerous and it’s not something I’ll do anymore. I was happy to do it earlier in my life.”
While he may not have any desire to gain weight for a movie role, he seemed perfectly content revealing that he got back down to a healthy 176 pounds — his high school weight — to play King Odysseus. Even though he didn’t need to starve himself or buff up to play the character, Damon said that it was “by far the hardest movie to the most challenging movie I’ve ever been a part of.”
Winning Over His Toughest Critic
Still, he said that he “loved every minute of it.” And while it’s already been getting critical acclaim, the best review he got came from his daughter
“I have one daughter who’s really not reverential at all about [my movies href=”https://parade.com/1222580/samuelmurrian/best-movies-all-time/”] and loves to give me s–t,” the Good Will Hunting star said. “She saw The Odyssey, and at the end she actually turned to me and she said, ‘Dad, I’m proud of you.’ She’s never said anything like that, because we joke around a lot. At that point I was kind of like, ‘I’m good. It was all worth it.'”
This story was originally published byParadeon Jul 15, 2026, where it first appeared in theNewssection. Add Parade as aPreferred
